Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Chart Notes With Gordon Murray

In which he analyzes the stats and improves your quality of life
By Gordon Murray Euge Groove's 'uge momentum pushes his latest, "Religify" (Narada Jazz/Capitol), to the top of the chart, sporting this week's Most Increased Plays (+81). Groove flies over Tim Bowman's "Sweet Sundays" (Trippin 'N' Rhythm) (+48), landing at No. 1 after Bowman flew up top for five weeks over the holiday season.

Get this: "Religify" is the third Nielsen BDS No. 1 for Groove, a feat equaled only by two other artists, Richard Elliot and Boney James. Previous Groove No. 1s were "Get Em Goin'" (Narada Jazz/BLG) in December 2005 and "Born 2 Groove" (Narada Jazz/BLG) in September 2007. Euge Groove also has the most Top 5 and most Top 10 hits on the Nielsen BDS chart, both with five. His five Top 20 Nielsen BDS hits put him in a four-way tie for second place, only trailing Richard Elliot's six.

Airpower honors are awarded to Fourplay this week for their unpredictable hit "Fortune Teller" (Heads Up). It moves 17-12 (+65) on the regular detection-based chart and 27-15 (+117%) on the audience side. Likewise, Kim Waters starts off 2009 on a high note as his song "Let's Get On It" (Shanachie) achieves Airpower status as well. Waters improves 20-17 (+39) on the detections chart and 26-19 (+71%) on the audience side. The track hails from Waters' album "I Want You: Love in the Spirit of Marvin," which became his first No. 1 in 10 tries, dating back to 1990, on Billboard's Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart in November.

Boney James captures this week's unusually competitive race for the Most Added song with "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)" (Concord/CMG). James beats out Seal, Kim Waters and others with adds at five new stations: KSSJ/Sacramento, KTWV/Los Angeles, WLOQ/Orlando, WNWV/Cleveland and Sirius XM Watercolors.

Recommended Listening: It's cold, icy, dreary, dark, and all-around miserable outside; the holiday festivities are over; the economy sucks (to put it mildly).... So, what to start off a new year listening to? How should one approach a new year? I thought about this and determined that the answer is with positive thinking and soothing sounds, both of which are brought to us on Deepak Chopra's "Whispers of Spirit" (The Relaxation Company). This album, composed and produced by Brian Scott Bennett, features ambient music with Chopra's wise words whispered in your ear by Brittney Browne. Listen for a few minutes and you're sure to be amused; listen for a half hour and you're sure to be smiling and relaxing, even sleeping, as a result of the delicate, subtle whispers of Chopra's positivity from Browne over Bennett's soothing music. According to the album's front cover, this CD is an "affirmational soundtrack for positive living" -- and who doesn't need that?